Antiskid-chain-applying tool.



A. T. DERBY.

ANTISKID CHAIN APPLYING TOOL. APPLICATION FILED-M1110, 1917.

Patented Aug. 28, 1917.

A'PDORNBYS ALBERT T. DERBY, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

AN'IISKID-CHAIIN-APPLYING TOOL.

Application filed March 20, 1917.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT T. DERBY, a citizen of the United States, residing at the city and county of San Francisco and State of California, have invented new and use ful Improvements in Antiskid-Chain-Applying Tools, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an anti-skid chain-applying tool.

Any one having had the experience of applying chains of the anti-skid type on automobile wheels knows that not only time and experience, but also a considerable amount of patience is required, due to the difliculty of connecting the ends, particularly if handled by hand. The object of the present invention is to overcome this difficulty by providing a simple, substantial and cheaply manufactured tool which can be quickly and easily operated to connect the ends of the chain when applying the same to the wheels. Further objects will hereinafter appear.

The invention consists of the parts and the construction and combination of. parts hereinafter more fully described and claimed, having reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is a side elevation of a portion of a wheel showing the first position of the chain-applying tool when the chain ends are connected.

' Fig. 2 is a similar View showing the connecting operation completed and the tool in position for removal.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the tool.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail view of the connecting hook and chain link, showing the end of the tool in position therewith.

Referring to the drawings in detail, A indicates a portion of the wheel rim, 2 a pneumatic tire and 3 a chain of the anti-skid type. The chain here shown is known as the WVeed chain, and one end of the chain is provided with a hook 4 and latch 5 while the opposite end of the chain is provided with a link 6 adapted to engage in one of the recesses of the hook 4 when the ends are connected.

Considerable difficulty is experienced in placing the link 6 in one of the notches in the hook 4, particularly if the hands alone are used and the chain fits snugly about the tire. This difficulty is, however, entirely Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 28, 191W.

Serial No. 156,106.

overcome in the present instance by employ ing the simple tool shown in Fig. 3. This tool consists of a handle section 7 which is channel-shaped in cross section. The lower end of this lever is extended to form two projecting toes S positioned parallel with relation to each other and sufficiently thin to permit them to pass through the link 6 while one of the hooks may pass between the same. The lever is entirely open-on one side, as shown at 9, due to the channelshaped cross section while the opposite side is closed, as shown at 10, to form a back for the handle and a shoulder 11 for the toes, the function of which will be as follows:

In operation, when applying the chain and when desiring to connect the link 6 with one of the recesses of the hook 4, it is only necessary to pass the tool through the link, as shown in Fig. 1. The projecting toes 8 of the tool are then passed over the hook member in a position where the long inner face of the back below the shoulder will engage the inner side of the hook, as shown in Fig. 1. The tool is then swung in the direction of arrow a with the end of the hook riding on the inner face of the back until the position shown in Fig. 2 is assumed. The link 6 will, during this movement, slide down over the outer curved or rounded face of the back of the tool and the shoulder 11 and will, in this manner, be brought into locking engagement with the hook. The thin metal sides of the toes 8 permit the tool to be readily removed at this point, thus leaving the link in interlocked position with the hook and completing the connecting operation.

A tool constructed as here shown permits the link 6 to be engaged with either one or the other of the recesses formed in the hook 4, thus increasing or decreasing the tension of the chain as conditions may demand. The latch 5 may be moved into engagement with the hook once the link has been placed in position, thus securing it against accidental removal while the chain is used, the tool being placed in the tool box or other convenient receptacle when not otherwise employed.

The tool proper is not only cheap to manufacture but is so simple in construction and easy of manipulation that practically any one can successfully employ it without instructions or experience.

The materials and finish of the tool may be such as experience and judgment in manufacture may dictate.

I Wish it understood that various changes in the form, proportions and minor details of construction may be resorted to Within the scope of the appended claim, and that I' do not Wish to.- limit myself to the specific design and construction here shown.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is As a new article of manufacture, an antiskid chain applying tool formed of an integral channel bar, the sides of Which at one end. of the bar are extended laterally to form a pair of projecting toes sa-id toes extending above the adjacent edge extremity of A and the outer face of the back of the bar being curved to conformably engage the end of the link of the chain Which is engaged by the hook.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ALBERT T. DERBY.

Witnessesi M. J. HnLrnIoIi, H. G. LARSH.

Copies of thispatent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. 0.. 

